Thursday, September 04, 2008

As far back as January 1990, at the Church Meeting where the proposal was presented for discussion about constructing a new church, my "NAY" was the singular vote there to not recommend the approval of their proposal. The Pastor had also made the decision to not meet first with the Howard County (MD) Department of Planning and Zoning (DPZ) at that time, as I had suggested. I told Wright and those assembled that the DPZ plans for county development are made years in advance.

In that September 4, 2008, referenced article above, the reporter said Rev. John L. Wright, Pastor, refused to disclose what "issues" have hindered their church construction for so long. Wright also declined to mention that it was based on my ongoing legal fight against them in the courts since 2003, which has resulted in the hold up of legal church construction for all of these years.Lawsuit ---

Rev. Lainie Dowell vs. Howard County, MD, et al.

My Pro se lawsuit and appeals against FBCG construction since 2003 to the present.

What's more, the church and DPZ have also ignored my complaints that the church was in court using the wrong name for their Resident Agent for all of these years. As a result, those lawsuits the contractors have filed against the FBCG were filed in the name and address of a dead man. In fact, he was the Pastor just before Rev. Wright became Pastor of the church in 1971, after the late Rev. Arbie D. Webb had left the church.

During that time, Rev. Webb had startled parishioners by leaping out of the pulpit before service, never to return. Later when asked, he said the Lord had spoken to him to get out of there and that he didn't hesitate. Rev. Arbie D. Webb had been Resident Agent but has been out of FBCG church and has been dead for years, which the church leaders knew but wouldn't change the name of Resident Agent.

Apparently neither the expensive lawyers of the contractors nor the newspaper reporter have conducted an adequate investigation into a whole lot about that church, because they served the lawsuit on Rev. Arbie D. Webb, at an address he hasn't lived in for decades. If they had done due diligence, they would have not ignored my ongoing warnings to them about Wright and his corrupt actions and have saved a lot of time, money, and resources.

When I had read that subject article, Thursday, I went right to the courthouse to retrieve copies of those court documents based on the news report that did not really tell the full story (see info below).

FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OF GUILFORD (Columbia, MD) faces loss of 100+ year-old church property!!

I can say without flinching that Rev. John L. Wright was warned by the Lord, but Wright called me crazy for bringing the message(s) and he tried to convince our Clergy colleagues and parishioners of the same assessment. Nevertheless, everything I have said in the prophetic writings to Rev. Wright and FBCG officers and parishioners has happened and is confirmed with documentation. One of the court documents I have just retrieved quotes Wright as stating that he could use his status as NAACP head to make calls to speed up getting a building permit which was necessary.

I had filed many complaints about the church proceeding to build without first receiving from HoCo any building permit and about how Howard County officials ignored my complaints, did not even respond to my correspondence even though I was entitled to it by virtue of having filed my lawsuit against both the church and them.

CORRUPTION IS FINALLY ON THE WAY TO FULL EXPOSURE!

The Howard County (MD) closed my case even though it was still on appeal in the Annapolis, MD, Court of Special Appeals. What's more, the lower court NEVER notified me of the closure and have never given me any final order/decision/reason to this day (September 5, 2008). Yet, their records will show that is not their normal legal procedure. How does it work?

I have just retrieved a document from the court dated Thursday, August 17, 2006, in which Rev. Wright is quoted at a meeting saying: "My main concern is the building permit. We cannot do anything without the building permit. We can have all the meetings we want to have, all the discussions we want to have, but we cannot go forward until we get the building permit. . . . When can we get it?"

He went on further to say " . . . . I am familiar with all of the counties in the state of Maryland. I am the former President of NAACP and of the Maryland State Conference. I know how some of this work (sic), some of it is political. We might have to get in touch with the politicians to help us along the way. They have been very cordial; and my people and resources have been very cooperative. I want to make sure we cover all of our basics. (sic) So it is back to # One is the building permit, the building permit. - I cannot over empathized (sic) it is the building permit." quoted -Rev. John L. Wright, Minutes Re: Construction of New Church.

If that dialogue (quoted above) does not explain why my Pro se lawsuits against Wright and FBCG have been treated illegally as they have, then I don't know what would. And, to make matters worse, the current head of the Howard County NAACP is the FBCG Deacon who was hand picked by Wright for that political position. Wright has also held such powerful influential positions in the Baptist Church and denomination. Those high profile affiliations allowed him and his supporters to file false charges against me in 1992, which injunction still remains in place to keep me off church property. Then, even after all of that, I found out that Wright had secretly filed false arson charges against me, which I fought and stopped. (Documented).

The man is dangerous. He cannot be trusted. But who in this county is finally going to conduct an investigation into all of this corruption? The officers of the church and HoCo officials and others knew and have kept quiet in the midst of corruption, fraud, obstruction of justice, violation of my civil rights, defamation, slander, and perjury. And it was done with the help of church lawyers who were members of Wright's church. Isn't that against the law? Nevertheless, they know what they have done and I know they know God will not forgive nor forget it, because they did it in the name of the Lord. And they have still been unable to build. -revldowell

CONTRACTOR LAWSUITS --

Harbor View Contractors, Inc. Filed Mechanics Liens against FBCG for lack of payments for work they've done. Court records reviewed show the company recently had the case dismissed and they plan to re-start the church project.

Gilford Construction Corp.The court records reveal this company is currently pursuing a mechanic's lien, also, against the FBCG, for "Breach of Contract," etc. and the church is in danger of losing their church property. Court date scheduled early October.

What those companies fail to understand, however, is that the FBCG church - since 2003 - has proceeded to try to build on an illegal process, which they and the county know about and, also, know that I will continue to pursue the matter in court until a trial is scheduled on my 2004 appeal to stop construction. The matter will not be closed until justice is done.I had also filed written complaints against the problems with the following architects retained by FBCG: -SRR & Associates, PC-Derrick Burnett, AEICourt records reviewed show the arrogance of Wright and all the other people (including Howard County officials) who believed he was a true man of God with integrity and truth. However, court records show that Wright has recognized the political aspects of this matter (and everything else he has illegally pursued in Howard County and the state of Maryland, because of his prior positions as head of the local and state NAACP and the local and state Baptist denomination). He has abused his office to hurt so many people, including me. And, the only way he has gotten away with it is because of his political influence with the county and state officials and the court. And even though the papers have yet to publish the facts about this church case, this account will remain as a testimonial, within context, for such time as it is all made public. Since they know the facts and law, they will not be able to say they were ignorant of what the church has done and continues to do. They all will pay the price of public humiliation once the law catches up to them one time or another as it always does.Nevertheless, by refusing to believe this black, Godly woman preacher, they have prolonged the legal construction. So, keep in mind that everything I have reported can be substantiated by court documentation and other published reports, which anybody who cares about justice will be unable to legally and legitimately refute.A Current News Article -----Thursday, September 4, 2008. Church confronts lawsuits as it builds new home. An article by Derek Simmonsen, in The Columbia Flier (MD), Email: dsimmonsen@patuxent.com

I need this reporter to contact me, because I have all the answers to his questions about the FBCG construction history and ongoing issues that have halted the work. And this information I can provide will present an article for the public which is long overdue precisely because the Columbia Flier newspaper has repeatedly refused to tell my story about FBCG, Rev. Wright, and me. I have continued to call for an investigation into the ongoing corruption, fraud, obstruction of justice, perjury, violation of my civil rights, etc.

The Flier is our local newspaper and despite my many contacts with them, their refusal to follow through has created a horrible scenario which could have been averted long ago. As well, they could have had the scoop of all time about what was really going on with this widely believed to be the #1 church and pastor, Rev. John L. Wright, in Howard County, MD.

Even the two church contractors who are now in a position of having to go into court to get their money for work performed could have saved money and time and resources, if they had heeded my warnings to them via emails (not sent anonymously). They ignored my contacts and plowed ahead to tear up the church property. And, now it remains a gigantic hole in the ground where nobody can go onto the property to hold church services.

All of my attempts to stop the FBCG construction have lasted from late 1990s to this date. As of now, I am awaiting a response to my renewed appeals by the MD Court of Special Appeals in Annapolis, because neither the Howard County (MD) Board of Appeals nor the HoCo Circuit Court nor the Court of Special Appeals has provided me with any Decision and/or Order, as mandated by law. The courts have never scheduled a trial to hear my case, de novo on the merits. And, in fact, they have ignored my many documented complaints about that.

On Wednesday, September 3, 2008, my mother-in-law brought to my attention that the FBCG church ad did not appear in the Afro-American Newspaper church section. I phoned the Afro advertising section to ask why the FBCG was not published there and I was told "We had to put it aside because they have not paid the bill."

It appears the FBCG ad may not have appeared for at least the past several months. I don't read the Afro, but I wonder how many parishioners know their church is in such dire financial straits.

I have accumulated hundreds of pages of documentation to show this ongoing political fight I am engaged in with the FBCG and the HoCo government's lawyers. And, while the Simmonsen article says there is only one lawsuit now filed against that church, that is not true.

I am possibly the only Howard County citizen who has enough knowledge and credibility to discuss this case from its inception in 1990 until now. I have copies of all the court documents, but Rev. John L. Wright, the parishioners, and county officials have scoffed at me and ignored all of my correspondence for them to investigate this matter. In context, this is a spiritual matter, because I had foretold that it is between Wright and God, because of the way he refused to hear and obey the will of the Lord for that church and in my life.

And, if anybody scoffs at that, then they need to talk to me and let me show them the actual proof, within context, that this is one church matter in which there can be no doubt that God is in total charge of everything.

If they had listened to me years ago, they would be in a new church with glory to God. Instead, they are looking at a literal hole in the ground and they are meeting but only for a little while longer in a county schoolroom. If all those FBCG parishioners knew what really happened and why, they would walk away and not look back and the pastor and officers know that.

True Christians who know God do not play with Him. They fear the Lord. They know that God will do exactly what He says and continues to do.

Friday, June 27, 2008

Unbelievable! Howard County, Maryland, Department of Planning and Zoning and The First Baptist Church of Guilford, broke the law again. They were aided by the circuit court and the court of special appeals to deprive me of the right to a trial on the merit concerning the church's ongoing construction without a legal permit.

After four years pursuing them in the courts, including local and state levels, they dismissed my appeal because the county did not give me a final decision, written or oral. But it was necessary for me to proceed on appeal. There was nothing filed. There was nothing based on the facts and conclusion of law. Instead of the circuit court remanding the case for the county to comply with the law, the court granted the county summary judgement even while my case was pending appeal based on the circuit court's denying my motions (1) for change of venue and (2) for stay pending appeal.

The circuit court had never scheduled a trial on the merit of my lawsuit based on the church's unlawful construction. They had architects and a plumber working on the property who were not licensed to practice in Maryland or anywhere else and I had brought that to their attention. They ignored it and kept digging a great big hole in the ground --- without a building permit in hand and despite the church having been denied at least five (5) times on their conditional use application. The pastor, Rev. John L. Wright, lied (there's no other word besides perjury) when he filed papers early on stating they had not been denied an application within the past 24 months of their new application to build. The documentation proves he did not tell the truth and, if he had, he would never have been able to proceed with construction. But, of course, Howard County already knew that was the case and kept allowing the church to build.

The church subsequently moved to a local schoolhouse for their Sunday services, because the hole in the ground made it dangerous for anybody to come on the property. As it stands, the church obtained millions of dollars more from the bank just this year, without an approved building permit. They expanded the plans far beyond their original intent (which had not been approved) and kept submitting redline plans.

As of this date, the hole is still in the ground and they have not been able to continue to build -- for some reason. We know it is because they disobeyed God's prophetic word He had me to give them many years ago before the start of their plans. Now, whereas most churches start in schoolhouses and go on into their own church building --- this church has ended up from their church building into a schoolhouse with a hole in the center of their church property.